


Death and Taxes

by KivaEmber



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Complicated Relationships, Developing Friendships, Established Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, M/M, Oneshot Series, Past Relationship(s), Romantic Friendship, Slice of Life, Strained Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:42:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23135602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KivaEmber/pseuds/KivaEmber
Summary: In this modern timeline, the Hades Household is now a tax collection agency. Hades fully intends for his son to join the 'family business', but Zagreus wants nothing to do with it - isn't entirely sure what he wants to do with himself, really. Everyone else seems to have their lives figured out, so why can't he?or;A series of oneshots about a modern au version of Hades. Everything is still extremely dysfunctional, Olympian family members included, and Zagreus's true calling turns out to involve a lot of pastry.
Relationships: Megaera/Zagreus (Hades Video Game), Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

Dawn was still touching the darkly overcast horizon when Zagreus ambushed Thanatos en route to work. 

It was just before rush hour, when the foot traffic was light and Thanatos didn’t have to endure the crushing press of crowds on his way to work. Sometimes he even stopped for coffee on the way to the office, if it was cold enough and he was too bleary-eyed to see straight. Tellingly, it was close to said coffee shop that Zagreus swooped out of  _ nowhere, _ slinging an arm over his shoulders and almost sending Thanatos jumping out of his skin. 

“Good morning, Than,” Zagreus greeted, giving his shoulders a tight squeeze. Even through his crisp, tailored business-suit, he could feel Zagreus’s warm body heat seeping through the fabric, “Looking a bit sleepy-eyed there. Late night?”

Thanatos grunted, “Something like that. You want something?”

Zagreus sighed and lowered his arm, the flat of his palm pressing a firm, warm line down between his shoulder blades, lingering briefly on the small of his back before pulling away. Thanatos had to bite his tongue to stop himself from telling him to put it back. 

“Why do you always think I want something when I come to say hello?” Zagreus grumbled, “I just wanted to see you.”

Thanatos felt a brief squirm of guilt. Well… “Zag-”

“But now that you mention it,” Zagreus continued brightly, his mismatched eyes alight with mischief as he elbowed him gently in the ribs, “We’re close to your favourite cafe, right? How about a coffee, on me?”

“...” Thanatos rolled his eyes, “ _ Tsk, _ fine.” 

Zagreus looked pleased with himself, brushing his shoulder against his. Nothing more was said, but nothing more was needed, really. The short walk to the cafe was comfortably quiet, Thanatos mentally shaking off some of his exhaustion to observe his… friend (friend with benefits?  _ Boyfriend?  _ Their relationship was still in that strange, transmutable stage where they hadn’t quite put an official name to it) in his peripheral. 

Despite greeting him so energetically, Zagreus looked exhausted himself. He was paler than usual, dark bruises under his eyes that told of a long, sleepless night. If Thanatos remembered correctly, it was nearing the end of term for Zagreus’s university course, and an assessment exam was coming up. From what little he overheard between Zagreus and his father (an unavoidable thing, as they tended to have their blowout arguments in Hades’s office as that man didn’t  _ go home _ ), it was unlikely Zagreus would do well on it. 

Thanatos stayed out of it. Zagreus never brought the subject up with him, and he was harangued constantly by Hades about it as it was. He made a mental note, though, just in case. 

They reached the cafe just as foot traffic started to pick up, though thankfully before the main crush of early morning commuters coming to buy their breakfast and coffee. It was a modest, small cafe, one of many along the street but normally the quietest, which suited Thanatos’s tastes just fine. Their coffee was average, but their breakfast muffins were to kill a man for, and were, quite frankly, the only way he got through his mornings, sometimes. 

“You take a seat, I’ll grab our usuals,” Zagreus said when they stepped inside, playfully pushing his shoulder, “Go on, before you doze off on your feet.”

“I’m not  _ Hypnos _ ,” Thanatos complained, but he gratefully slouched off to his usual spot: the dark, squashy sofas in the corner, angled to face the wide screen TV hitched up on the wall. He sank into the comfortable seat, checking his watch absently. He had a good forty minutes before he needed to clock in. 

He did, despite himself, doze off for a bit. 

He roused when something nudged his knee, and he hummed quietly. It took more effort than he liked to open his eyes, just in time to see Zagreus setting a tray down on the squat coffee table before them. Two coffees and a breakfast muffin. 

“You’re not hungry?” Thanatos asked, forcing himself to sit up despite his body wanting to stay lazily slouched in the too-comfortable sofa. 

“Nah, I had a snack when I woke up earlier,” Zagreus said dismissively, leaning his elbows on his knees. Thanatos eyed him as he picked up his coffee. 

Where Thanatos was dressed impeccably: suit, tie, cleanly iron-pressed and not a thread out of place, Zagreus looked like he just rolled out of a dirty laundry basket. His hoodie was old and faded, somewhat baggy with a Cerberus logo on the front, the print cracked and flaking with age. His tracksuit bottoms had a small rip on one of the knees, and his flame-patterned trainers had years worth of mudstains and grime coating them. Thanatos wasn’t really surprised, Zagreus tended to get lazy with his appearance when he felt stressed out, but if he was planning on going into the office looking like  _ that, _ well…

Hades wasn’t going to like it. 

Zagreus caught him looking, and gave him a cheeky smile, “Something on my face?”

Thanatos didn’t take the bait, “You seem tired.”

“Ah,” Zagreus grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck like it was paining him, “That obvious, huh?”

“Just a little,” Thanatos studied him for a moment longer, and tentatively, a little awkwardly, asked, “Is there something wrong?”

He wasn’t an empathetic guy, normally. He knew he fumbled with emotive communication a lot, but Zagreus was just as bad. Where Thanatos found it difficult to find the words, to parse his emotions, Zagreus understood his own  _ too _ well, and bottled them up and hid and obscufated, if he felt it would burden Thanatos unnecessarily to share. It was beyond frustrating, caused several misunderstandings in the past, but Thanatos liked to think he was getting better at  _ understanding _ Zagreus and asking the right questions at the right time. 

...maybe. Probably. 

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Zagreus said easily, but his smile faltered when Thanatos pinned him with an unimpressed look, “Uh, sort of. Kind of.”

Thanatos didn’t say anything. Let the awkward silence fall so heavily between them it was a miracle it didn’t shatter the floor. Zagreus, predictably, started to squirm. 

“... it’s just this stupid exam,” Zagreus finally caved, scrubbing his fingers through his hair, making the messy locks even spikier and messier, “Father’s been practically flaying me alive about this damn degree-”

“He is paying for the course,” Thanatos pointed out neutrally. 

“Yes, yes, as he  _ keeps reminding me, _ ” Zagreus gritted out frustratedly, “Not like I  _ asked _ him to. Not like he didn’t take my opinion into account when all but strong-arming me onto the course. I hate accounting.  _ Hate it.” _

Yes, Thanatos was  _ deeply _ aware of Zagreus’s hatred of anything to do with complex mathematics, administration and finances. It wasn’t that he was unable to do it, it was just Zagreus lacked the patience and focus to sit at a desk for hours at end, squinting through excel spreadsheets and auditing accounts with a fine-toothed comb. Hades’s last attempt to give Zagreus some  _ “hands on experience” _ had ended in a messy disaster because of that…

“And now I’m struggling to even achieve the lowest pass mark,” Zagreus finished exhaustedly, “I’m hoping Father will realise it’s a lost cause, then…”

_ Or he will hire tutors to beat the subject into your brain with brute-force repetition, _ Thanatos thought grimly. Judging by Zagreus’s resigned expression, he had no doubt had the same idea.

“He’s asked to see me this morning,” Zagreus continued, picking up his coffee and idly turning the mug slowly in his hands, “Probably to yell at me some more.”

“Zag…” Thanatos stopped, unsure on how to approach the subject. He didn’t get a chance to try, because Zagreus turned to him with a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“But enough of that,” Zagreus said easily, “Are you working late today? We haven’t had an evening together for a while.”

Thanatos hesitated, but reluctantly let the subject slide. He had a feeling pushing it would just end up with the both of them in a foul mood. Not a nice way to start the morning. 

“Not too late. Sometime after seven, I’ll be free,” Thanatos said, “You got something in mind?”

“A lazy night in bed?” Zagreus purred, “Or an active one…?”

“ _ Zag. _ ”

“Or a film night,” Zagreus added quickly, “I don’t mind what we do, really. It’s up to you.”

“Just like you to suggest something, but leave the final decision to me,” Thanatos sighed, but it sounded fond even to his own ears, “...a lazy night doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Oh?”

“Mm,” Thanatos leaned back against the sofa, slowly crossed his legs at the knee as he hid his smile against the rim of his cup, “ _ If _ you keep your hands to yourself. I know you. You’ll keep us up all night if I let you.”

Zagreus laughed, but didn’t bother denying it, “Okay, okay. I’ll keep the groping to a minimum.”

Thanatos rolled his eyes, but he felt pleasantly warm and fuzzy. Really, the idea of spending a lazy evening with Zagreus made him  _ excited _ to finish work somewhat early (for him). He could already imagine it, had enough experience to know that a  _ lazy night _ meant an early night with Zagreus’s warm body curled up against his, soft kisses and gentle touches and-

He carefully stopped his thoughts there. Told himself the warmth in his cheeks was from his hot coffee. 

Thanatos almost spilt his coffee over his lap when he felt Zagreus’s fingers brush against the nape of his neck in an absent gesture, familiar and affectionate. When Thanatos glanced over, Zagreus was more focused on the morning news on the TV, idly sipping his coffee as his free hand stroked absent shapes over Thanatos’s nape. 

...he allowed it. Relaxed into it. They had some time yet, until work began and brought reality back to the unpleasant forefront once more. 

It woke him up more than this coffee anyways. Zagreus just had that effect on him. 


	2. Chapter 2

Zagreus had learned that there were specific times to approach Father about specific topics. 

First thing in the morning, just after 6am when the office opened, but before 7am, Father was at his most fractious. This was the optimal time to catch him when Zagreus wanted to pick a fight, for the both of them to go through some cathartic yelling and insulting each other with minimum witnesses. This period of war-making normally ended when Hypnos would tentatively sidle into the fray with reminders of morning appointments. Sometimes Zagreus would storm out and see if he could make the loudly ticking clock fall off the wall by slamming the door as hard as he could.

(At the moment he was on a streak of eight. Two more dramatic door-slams and he’ll hit a new record)

After 7am but before 10am, Father was distracted with appointment phone calls or email chains, and therefore would ignore anything coming out of Zagreus’s mouth unless it involved their deranged family or Mother. This was the optimal time to ask Father something he would normally refuse, taking his distracted grunts as affirmation for this or that. 

After 10am but before noon, Father was coldly collected but no less overbearing. Zagreus avoided him the most at these times, as his father tended to expertly dismantle his arguments and complaints, making him feel like a stupid, silly child who really should stop carry on like he is. Annoyingly, Father scheduled most of their little  _ talks _ for around then, so obviously Zagreus either arrived too early for their ritual morning argument or not at all. 

After noon…? Well, Zagreus wouldn’t know, as by that point he’d be half a city away from Father’s office. He used to take refuge in the university at first - honestly, he thought it great when he enrolled, but slowly the grind of trying to keep up with a subject he  _ loathed _ , with Father constantly barking down his ear about his studies and assessments and how he  _ needed _ this degree to get a job at the office… ugh, the university became just as much of a suffocating prison as Father’s office did. 

Sometimes, Zagreus wondered where it went wrong. It wasn’t  _ always _ like this with Father. He vaguely remembered him being something resembling a halfway decent parent, when the planets were properly aligned that is. He was actually missing the days where they could have a conversation that didn’t either erupt into a shouting match or fossilise into cold, unyielding silence - or Father threatening to cut him off if he didn’t start excelling in his university studies. Whether he meant it or was just trying to  _ motivate _ him, Zagreus didn’t know, but it was an  _ extremely stressful _ sword of Damocles to have hanging over his head regardless.  __

But of course, he never said any of this to anyone. He wasn’t quite sure how to, and it wasn’t as if he could drop out of university and flee a hundred miles away like Mother did. For one his funds were directly tied to his Father’s mercies, for another: he didn’t have marketable skills. 

But, he had a solution to that.

...maybe. 

* * *

Thanatos was elbow-deep in finance reports of a troublesome delinquent tax filer when a tupperware box dropped onto the page he was scrutinising with tired, aching eyes. 

He blinked. Slowly. 

“It’s almost lunch time,” Zagreus’s voice filtered through the haze of Thanatos’s intense focus, and he looked up to see his friend standing before his desk, a large takeout cup of coffee in hand, “Have you just sat here since you clocked in?”

“I… yes,” Thanatos straightened up from the slouch he’d eased into, rubbing his eyes, “It’s almost noon?” 

“Yup,” Zagreus said, popping the ‘p’, “Here. I think you need this more than me.”

Thanatos found himself suddenly holding the takeout coffee cup, Zagreus having pushed it insistently into his hands until he automatically grasped it, and watched with a groggy sort of confusion as his friend popped open the tupperware box and gestured dramatically at it with a soft ‘ta da’. Inside was a simplistic, homemade bento, its crowning piece being a riceball shaped like a mouse’s face. 

A.

A  _ homemade _ bento. 

“Uh,” Thanatos said intelligibly, off-guard. 

“I know, I know, it’s simple,  _ but, _ its edible,” Zagreus said quickly, taking Thanatos’s dumb silence for hesitation, “I taste-tested it myself- ah, not  _ this _ one specifically but, from the same batch. The rice. I mean. And the eggs. The eggs are fine.”

Thanatos shook off some of his surprise and felt himself start to smile. It was a terribly fond, affectionate smile, and he quickly hid it by taking a sip of coffee. It was strong and bitter, exactly how Thanatos liked it; and how Zagreus  _ hated _ it.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s fine,” Thanatos said after a short pause, lowering his coffee now that he could control his expression better, “Uh, thanks, Zag, though you didn’t need to. I can feed myself fine.”

Zagreus made a dismissive hand wave that looked too casual to be genuinely dismissive, “It’s okay, I find this relaxing. Cooking, I mean. I ended up with several boxes and I’m not going to eat them all so, yeah. Thought I might as well share.”

“Right,” Thanatos said, his voice dry as the desert, “So, this going to be a regular thing, then?”

“Maybe,” Zagreus started to grin, “If you don’t mind being a sort of guinea pig for my more  _ adventurous  _ recipes.” 

“I think I’ll taste-test  _ this _ first before agreeing to that,” Thanatos said, tugging the tupperware box a bit closer to him. Although, “Ah, damn, I don’t have any-”

Zagreus produced utensils out of  _ nowhere _ like some kitchen magician, and Thanatos gave him a weird look. 

“What?” Zagreus gave him an innocent look, “I like being prepared.”

“Where did you- nevermind,” Thanatos took the utensils, checked they were clean before holding them properly. He paused, though, when he realised Zagreus was just standing there, eagerly watching him (no doubt awaiting approval of his cooking) with unnerving intensity, “Can you… not stare at me like that.”

Zagreus, because he was a  _ cretin, _ stared harder. 

Thanatos set his utensils down and pointedly started to put the tupperware lid back on. 

“Fine, fine, I’ll leave you to it,” Zagreus backed off with a laugh, giving him a jaunty wave as he started to leave, “Tell me if you liked it, though. I’ll catch you at your place later.”

“I’m working late tonight, Zag!” Thanatos called after him, grunting when Zagreus just ambled off. No doubt he was going to foist another one of these homemade meals onto Megaera or Dusa. Or both, knowing him. Zagreus had the weirdest compulsion to bestow gifts onto people he liked, whether they wanted it or not. 

Thanatos’s stomach chose that moment to growl pointedly, and he sighed. Well, in this case, he did want this gift. 

He taste-tested the bento. 

“...”

It was…  _ amazing. _

He’d actually pay money for this. 

**Author's Note:**

> help ive fallen into the modern au hole and can't get out 
> 
> this will be in a sort of oneshot format, but it is chronological order and with an established relationship (one that can still develop further though!) with a very loose plot. this is just me indulging in fluffy plot bunnies and exploring romance and friendships and dysfunctional family relationship from a more modern lens.


End file.
